Posts Tagged ‘flying’

So as the strip indicates, I finally got around to seeing Elf on Monday night. I really enjoyed it, too. A lot of the funniest bits were used up in the trailers and television commercials, but curiously, I didn’t care. Will Ferrell is such a joy to watch, it never even fazed me.

All those reviews that said Elf was going to be a new holiday classic sound a little ambitious, but they’re not far off the mark. When it comes out on DVD, I know I’m going to buy it. And after I own it, I know I could watch it over and over. Truthfully, I’ll probably go back a see it a second time when it still in theaters. The feeling it gives you is just that good.

Admittedly the conclusion starts to get a little sappy, but they wrap it up nicely with a recap of the characters a few years later. James Cann does the hurried, New York executive thing to a “T”, but I couldn’t help but think how a method actor such as himself probably didn’t have to stretch too far to get annoyed with Ferrell’s antics. Those two look like they would react as oil and water in real life just as easily as they do on film.

But of course, the reason to see Elf is for Ferrell. A lot of his lines would have fallen flat or sounded just plain dumb coming out of another actor’s mouth. But Ferrell brings a child-like innocence and glee to the role. You really start believing that he’s just a hyper-active, sugar-addled 8 year old trapped in the body of a middle aged goof. His enthusiasm is infectious. I particularly admired his character’s unique diet that allows him only to eat sugar products. I wish I was an elf…

Changing gears, I want to take a minute to call attention to our newest sponsor Phancy Pants. I’ve known co-creator Kiel kind of informally for a while. He’s a good guy and he’s got a great comic going for him. The site design is tight, too. Check it out!

I also gotta give props to those who have been donating to The Walk of Fame. Did you know if you donate five dollars or more you can get a cool Matrix-inspired Theater Hopper desktop wallpaper? It’s true. But you don’t have to donate that much if you don’t want to. ANY donation amount will still get your name enshrined on The Walk of Fame. Something to consider!

Friday will mark the 200th honest-to-goodness, drawn and written by me Theater Hopper strip. You might remember we crossed the milestone once before, but that was back when there were guest strips in the archive (you can find those now on the bonus materials page) but they were moved to represent a more honest count. I don’t have anything planned for the occasion, but I’ll probably have more to say about it on Friday. In the meantime, I just wanted to give a brief thanks to you guys for helping me get there. Thanks.

So today is the culmination of The Cult of Sandler storyline. I’ve been getting some really positive feedback on it, so I guess you enjoyed it! Who knows, maybe our favorite cloaked fanboys will reappear sometime! They seemed to have gone over pretty well.

The web comic landscape certainly seems to be shifting recently. First Movie Punks and Movie Comics called it quits. Now Mall Monkeys is closing up shop, too. Damn shame. Those guys really left an impression on the community – good or bad, they left an impression.

Of course, I can’t complain too much when co-conspirator Mitch Clem is bringing back Nothing Nice to Say! Start pounding the drums of war now, kiddies. Mitch is coming back to show us how it’s done!

Beyond that, I hope everyone has a good Hallmark holiday. It’s funny. In the days leading up to Valentine’s Day, I’m super cynical. I don’t want to give gifts and remind everyone that the holiday was invented by marketing people to help the diamond industry sell more engagement rings.

But then I sit down and think about how much I love Cami and everything I want to do for her and things aren’t so curmudgeonly after all. I mean, if you were going to celebrate anything, love is a good place to start!.

I know today’s incentive sketch makes it look like I had a pretty rough time at Wizard World Chicago. Those things did happen, but in total truth, it was one of the best cons I’ve ever been to. Lots of success, great ideas gathered and a few doors opened through the magic of networking.

Sadly, commentary for today’s comic as well as a recap of the convention will have to wait. I drew and inked today’s comic yesterday while I was still in Chicago and immediately sat down to color it when I got home.

I have that bouncy feeling like I’m still in motion after the 6 hour drive home. I’d like to take a shower and spend some time with Cami and Truman. The rest will have to wait.

Truman takes to the skies! Afterwords, he takes a little nap. He deserves it.

Apologies for the tardiness of the strip. Thursday night I went out with Jared, his wife Patti and Cami as part of a joint birthday celebration. We didn’t get in until way late and I wasn’t able to start working on the comic until yesterday morning. Then, yesterday afternoon we went out with my parents and in-laws to see Fun With Dick and Jane and then have dinner. It’s been hectic!

I suppose there was something to be said for the complexity of this strip. For some reason, I was under a total block in terms of how to stage the panels. Plus, not really knowing what a bi-plane looked like and being too stubborn to do research made me keep second-guessing my design. I suppose it turned out well.

And with that, we conclude the Dewey/King Kong storyline? What was Dewey’s ultimate fate? We may never know. Will Dewey ever return? Perhaps.

One of the great things about the holiday break is catching up on movies you’ve missed. Cami and I have been watching stuff at home like Roman Holiday as well as going out to the theater to see movies like The Family Stone as well.

If you haven’t seen The Family Stone, I would recommend it. The ending is a little sappy and, frankly, a bit of a downer. But I liked how the movie unfolded in these interested ways. Basically, it’s the story of a very liberal Massachusetts family coming together for the holidays. The eldest son brings home the very stuffy, uptight businesswoman he intends to marry and everyone butts heads. That’s the high level look. But what motivates the characters reaction to this interloper are very interesting. The ultimate conclusion I felt was pretty satisfying.

Something I wasn’t expecting however was how easily Luke Wilson walked away with the whole movie. I don’t know what it was about his performance that I found so enjoyable. He was essentially doing the same laid-back philosophy dude he does in every movie. But perhaps the chemistry was right this time around. Compared to the other actors, he certainly sticks out.

Something else? Dermot Mulroney isn’t looking very well these days. Looks a little rough around the edges. That’s a scary proposition for an actor who’s pretty much cast in roles for his looks, because it CERTAINLY isn’t his acting. The stairwell banister has more personality than he does.

Beyond that, nothing more insightful. I don’t really have any strong opinions about Fun With Dick and Jane (which I mentioned earlier). It was serviceable, but not laugh out loud funny. Kind of disappointing for a Judd Apatow screenplay, really. I mean, compared to the strength of Wedding Crashers and The 40 Year-Old Virgin, this one doesn’t really register on the Richter scale. If you’re a fan of Jim Carrey, you’ll probably enjoy watching him mug across the screen. There’s a manic vibe that he emits that becomes contagious to the rest of the cast and that picks up the pace of the storytelling, which is good. But I pretty much forgot everything I watched immediately after leaving the theater.

I’ll be away from my computer for the next two days. Going over to the in-laws tonight for our Christmas, then over to my parents house the next day for another round.

If you’re celebrating this weekend, stay safe and have a happy holiday!

Today’s comic was inspired by my continuing work on Theater Hopper: Year Three. I was writing up some commentary from 2005 and ruminating on the simplified style I attempted on a specific comic I don’t draw things like that very often mostly because I don’t often have a reason to stage the characters in a full-body render. If you look through the archives, there’s a lot of close-ups or shots from mid-chest up. Part of that is because I feel it puts you closer to things, but part of it is because larger areas are easier to color and shade than the smaller, detailed work

Anyway, I was thinking about the lack of the full-body render and – even though it’s time consuming – it’s fun to do and I enjoy the results. So I decided to take a swing at it with this comic.

I’m kicking around the idea of seeing Bolt this weekend, although it looks like a paint-by-numbers Disney film to me and I’m not particularly impressed by the fact that it has John Travolta and Miley Cyrus laying down vocals. But face facts; It’s been getting strong reviews and that hamster looks friggin’ hilarous!

But if anything is going to get me in the door, it’s that the movie is also being presented in 3-D. I’m completely aware that it’s a gimmick, but I’m willing to give it a try. Primarily because it’s a CG movie and a creative director can do things with shots that a real-world director could never attempt. Couple that with 3-D and you get an interesting result.

I only seem to feel this way about CG movies and not live-action movies. For example, Journey to the Center of the Earth looked dumb to me. But this looks alright. A big reason I went to see Beowulf last year was for the 3-D and it didn’t disappoint. So let’s see what Disney can do with it.

Not much more to say, so I’ll leave it at that. Here’s hoping everyone has a great weekend and I’ll see you all again on Monday!